Translator: Ink Hub
Editor: Yoog

The rain stopped.

The sky cleared.

Great Qian Calendar, Ninth Year of Jingfeng, New Year’s Day.

Countless soldiers and civilians stood in pools of blood, their gazes hollow. The scene around them, filled with severed limbs and mangled flesh, left them drowning in sorrow. A sickening, metallic scent of blood permeated the air.

No one had ever imagined that Yunyang Pass would spend its New Year’s Eve in such a manner.

In a single night, the city had become a graveyard.

Families and comrades were separated by the boundary of life and death.

Yet, they were still alive. The Qian military banners still fluttered high. Spontaneously, they began to clear the battlefield and bury their fallen kin. Many people instinctively looked toward the top of the city wall, where a young, resolute figure stood with his back to them, facing the rising sun.

Luo Yu.

On the night the rain fell, he slew the enemy commander!

It was he who had given the people of the city the hope to keep living.

“We won. We actually won.”

Han Shuo could not believe his own eyes.

“It is rare for me to play the madman, but I never expected the gamble to pay off.”

He had fought for many years, losing more often than he won. In his eyes, winning this battle was an inconceivable miracle.

“Does the commandant happen to know Wu Chengliang, the Great General of the East?”

Luo Yu’s casual sentence caused the excitement on Han Shuo’s face to come to a screeching halt. He turned back in shock, his expression a mix of astonishment and a hint of unease.

“Do not deny it. You cannot fool me.”

Luo Yu walked toward Han Shuo step by step.

“Over the past month, you appeared to be harsh and occasionally difficult toward me on the surface, but in reality, you looked after me quite well. From supplies and military rations to warhorses, there was never the slightest deduction. Furthermore, in last night’s battle, the best choice for a commandant who discovered Kong Xian’s conspiracy would have been to lead his troops and escape. There was no reason to risk death to save me. You were far too good to me.”

“To think you could see through that. You truly are exceptionally clever.”

Han Shuo gave a bitter smile. “But there is no reason for you to link it to the Great General, is there?”

Luo Yu spoke calmly, “I have no kinship or prior connection with the commandant. If it were not for someone else’s request, there would be no need for you to treat me so well. Thinking it through, he is the only one it could be. I asked around. You have been in the army for eighteen years, and eighteen years ago, Wu Chengliang just happened to be campaigning in Longxi. Is that not a bit too coincidental?”

“I am impressed. Your mind is meticulous.”

Han Shuo’s eyes shifted slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he finally spoke the truth.

“Eighteen years ago, I joined the Great General’s banner. At that time, the Great General was only a guerrilla general. Seeing that I was brave and willing to fight, he took me in as a personal guard. He saved my life. Later, when the Great General left Longxi to campaign in the east, I stayed in Que Prefecture because I was attached to my homeland. Two months ago, the Great General suddenly arrived at Yunyang Pass. He met with me in private and told me to secretly look after a young man named Luo Yu. However, I was to do it without leaving a trace so you would not notice. If you ever encountered a situation of certain death, I was ordered to save you at all costs.”

Luo Yu felt helpless. His guess had indeed been correct. At the same time, a wave of warmth rose in his heart. That cheap old man of his had claimed he was entirely on his own, yet he had left a safety net after all.

“I am very curious. Just who are you to the Great General that it was worth his making a personal trip to Longxi?”

Han Shuo’s lips curled slightly, his gaze turning eccentric.

“In this world, there are not many people who dare to call the Great General by his full name. Of course, you do not need to tell me. Regardless, the Great General told me to protect you. Therefore, even if I, Han Shuo, have to throw my life away, I will not let you die before me.”

Luo Yu smiled. It seemed his cheap old man had a group of loyal subordinates. At the very least, Han Shuo was someone he could fully trust.

“You… you should go see Shaoyou.”

Han Shuo glanced to the side, patted his own backside, and walked away.

Luo Yu turned his head. Xiao Shaoyou was sitting in the corner of the wall, covered in blood. There was an indescribable loneliness and vacancy in his eyes.

After the Qiang soldiers retreated, he had led men to search the entire city for Kong Xian. Finally, they found him in a dilapidated civilian house. Xiao Shaoyou had personally sent him to meet the King of Hell.

Yet, after killing the man, Xiao Shaoyou did not feel any sense of relief. He simply sat there alone for two full hours, motionless.

Luo Yu sat down beside him.

“Such a tiny matter, and you have already lost your spirit?”

“It is not that. It just feels heavy in my heart,” Xiao Shaoyou spoke softly.

“In the past, I always felt that the Li family and the Jun family—those powerful clans who hoarded military power—were not good people. They only cared for family interests. Although Kong Xian’s ability was mediocre, he was at least a general who followed the orders of the Imperial Court and did his best to guard the city. But now I understand. Whether it is the Li family or Kong Xian, they are all in it for themselves. Whether it is personal retainers or the Imperial Court’s official army, no one can be trusted. Yunyang Pass fought for so long, yet we did not see a single soldier or horse sent as reinforcements. Kong Xian was right about one thing: who actually cares whether we live or die? We, common soldiers, are nothing more than their pawns. Pawns used to seize interests.”

Luo Yu looked out at the city full of corpses.

“You used to say that the world is in chaos, the Seven Nations are in conflict, and the common people are like straw dogs. But in the eyes of the great clans and the powerful officials of the Imperial Court, are we not also straw dogs?”

“Yes. You and I are both straw dogs.”

Xiao Shaoyou used the wall for support to stand up. The vacancy in his eyes gradually transformed into something fierce and decisive.

“If we do not want to be someone else’s pawn, if we want to survive in this chaotic world, we must be the ones in control! As long as we have soldiers and power, no one will ever think of using us again!”

“Exactly. Whether it is the great clans or the Imperial Court, they will only treat us as pawns to be exploited. If we do not want to be someone else’s pawn, we must have our own power! Our own territory!”

A flash of ferocity also crossed Luo Yu’s eyes, and he felt a sense of relief.

Xiao Shaoyou had talent and strategy. The only thing he lacked was the tempering of his character. From this moment on, he would undergo a transformation.

Xiao Shaoyou slowly clenched his fist.

“Better to be a centurion than a scholar!”

* * *

Seven or eight days had passed since the bloody battle on New Year’s Eve. Wanyan Chang’s death had shattered the morale and fighting spirit of the Qiang soldiers. They had retreated a great distance. Now, not a single shadow of a Qiang soldier could be seen outside the city walls.

Kong Xian, Jun Yi, and Li Chengxiao were all dead. Yunyang Pass had fallen into a leaderless state. Without anyone realizing when it began, Luo Yu had vaguely become the one in charge.

Whether it was Han Shuo, Xiao Shaoyou, or the other commandants and centurions, they all came to him for matters great and small. Even the civilians in the city were deeply grateful to Luo Yu.

Luo Yu had inexplicably taken up this burden. He arranged for men to repair the city walls, reorganize the defenses, and bury the bodies of their fallen comrades.

On the morning of the eighth day, the troops of the Jun family seemed to have received a signal in advance. They formed ranks outside the city early in the morning, with several hundred soldiers standing in perfect order.

A cavalry troop appeared on the official road. It was a grand procession of no fewer than a thousand riders. Every man was armored and held a spear, their expressions cold. Banners with the character “Jun” fluttered in the wind.

Luo Yu watched from the top of the wall. “Tsk, tsk. The momentum of this cavalry is not weak at all.”

“Quite a display.”

Xiao Shaoyou said doubtfully, “I wonder who has arrived.”

Rumble!

The cavalry troop came to a steady halt outside the city gates, guarding the flanks. In the center was a magnificent carriage, also flying the Jun family banner. The character “Jun” embroidered in gold and silver thread told everyone that the person inside was of noble and extraordinary status.

The curtain was lightly lifted. A figure in an ink-colored long robe slowly stepped down from the carriage. Looking from a distance, the surface of the robe was embroidered with strange patterns that could not be seen clearly.

The man stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the city wall. His gaze immediately locked with Luo Yu’s, and Luo Yu’s heart inexplicably trembled.

Boom!

The soldiers on both sides knelt in unison, cupping their fists and shouting loudly.

“Welcome, Young Master!”

The momentum and the pageantry were truly spectacular.

“It is actually him.”

A look of shock appeared in Xiao Shaoyou’s eyes.

“Who?”

“The second young master of the Jun family, Jun Mozhu.”

💝 Support the Team

possible odoabuchi

✍️ Translator

☕ Buy Me a Coffee